What is the diet of choice of terrorists? It may surprise you to know
that terrorists favor American fast food, which, of course, thanks to so-called
Western Imperialism, may be found anywhere, even in the desert. Terrorists like
to wash down their chicken deep fry with high-octane energy drinks like Red
Bull, topped with a few Captagons for dessert. What’s a Captagon? A synthetic
drug called fenethylline. Users have reported a feeling of emotional numbness
allowing them to kill with “reckless abandon.” "You can't sleep or even
close your eyes, forget about it," said a Lebanese user. “And whatever you
take to stop it, nothing can stop it." "I felt like I own the world
high," another user said. "Like I have power nobody has. A really
nice feeling." "There was no fear anymore after I took
Captagon," a third man added.
A gamer's dream, a pill that refuses to let them sleep for days while they shoot, shoot, shoot, a pill that pumps them up like Rambo. Remember Rambo? That
screaming banshee who mowed down his enemies with an automatic weapon. What was
Rambo’s rifle anyway? The classic M60 that usually took two soldiers to
operate: one to aim and shoot, the other to feed the ammo into the gun. Sly,
slung with ammo like a bandido, shot and fed the gun himself, the lone wolf,
the loose cannon, the working class hero who took matters into his own hands.
Real life shooters have
followed Rambo's example and mowed down former employers/employees; divorce lawyers; ex-wives; ex-girlfriends; classmates and teachers.
None of these terrorists were cooking their own food at home. None of
them were following their ancient, traditional diet of whole grains, vegetables,
beans and fruit. None of them are responsibly washing their bowl by hand after
they’d eaten with gratitude. Vegans can get pretty passionate and loud while
marching for World Peace, Equal Rights or the preservation of the bees, the
monarch butterfly or our wild lands, but no vegan has ever picked up an
automatic weapon to fight for the polar bear.
The AK-47, the Kalashnikov, was the automatic weapon used in the most recent terrorist attack on Paris, capable of a deadly spray up to 328 yards.
The cowardly distance between assassin and victim, not counting the yard for the gun
itself. 329 yards to murder helpless
unarmed men, women and children. People who were relaxing and enjoying life
only a moment before. Paris was chosen as a target, like a beautiful woman is
chosen as a target. Paris is beautiful, she is loved, she is elite. The typical
criminal’s lament of “if I can’t have it, no one can.” Terrorists claim they do
not want our Western lifestyle, they want to destroy it and us, yet they choose our smart phones, our social
networks, our fast food and our guns.
But, anyone may choose health and happiness at any time. Fire up the
stove and simmer those lentils and brown rice. You’ll feel better. You’ll look
around you with fresh eyes. Hate will seem so stupid when there is work and
love. Your weapon of choice can be cooking, giving you the ability to change yourself, others and the world.
Renaissance Kitchen
ancient, traditional foods of lentils & brown rice cooking
ancient, traditional foods of lentils & brown rice cooking
(photo and kitchen by the author)
Consider this quote about Iraqi women from Generation Kill – “They say you can see their ovens from outer space.” Now, that's power! Why would anyone turn his back on that kind of power?
The Greatest Violence Upon You
What is the greatest violence upon
you?
but the loss of your ancient memory
the blue drink
the plastic taco
the microwaved orange paste
the 7-11 on the corner
dispensing drugs of every kind
more democratically blind than
Justice herself
to race or creed, gender, age,
poverty or wealth
stripping your mind and body
stealing your self from you
not a watering hole
but a black hole
on every corner of every small town
and big city
drive by drink the blue drink,
drive by irradiated orange paste boiling nuclear salt in your veins till you
scream bloody murder your brother, drive by orange taco paste seething in your
veins till you dose the fire with blue radioactivity murder your brother, drive
by fire in your brain, drink the red drink, drink the blood of your brother,
drive by
sucking in your children, your
strong and clear making degeneration making degeneration, children making
shrunken children, disposable children the
army makes sense for you 7-11
convenience the mother who replaces your mother while she works -
why cook when you can nuke some
plastic sauce
when grain is your greatest freedom
when it will free you from SLAVERY
why not eat your slavery each and
every day
feed the fires of slavery seething
in your bellies the hunger that cannot be quenched seethes up like acid from
what they tell you to do,
from what they want you do
KILL EACH OTHER! get a gun and
shoot into the first McDonalds you see you'll feel better you’ll feel like a
man ROAR LIKE RAMBO TILL THE GUN IS EMPTY and your belly STILL BURNS
even the richest man cannot send
his butler
to go to the bathroom for him
Cancer used to be only for the
wealthy
Now you want it too!
What will you build your
civilization upon?
What is the message in the grain?
was it sent to us by aliens,
those who see us from above?
who visit our hangers of nuclear
war
who came to these very shores
the year the power plant was built
to tell us
build not upon the split atom or
unclean coal
they told us, tossing our ancient
cities upon the grain
flinging down the patterns of Ur
and Nineveh
Athens and Alexandria
circles we once built upon
the grain is free
it grows under your feet
multiplying like the loaves and
fishes
it is the blood of the sacred
covenant forgotten
Remember your grandmother?
or if you are young, your
great-grandmother?
who would not send you out
without something warm in your
belly?
something she formed like she
formed you
from nature
with her own hands?
Black or “lily-white”
it makes no difference!
it's the same!
made from love!
to pump your blood to your brain,
your soul, your limbs to carry your
soul,
your hands and feet to use your
soul
to keep you sane
to keep your head up
to keep you humble before God
so you would not forget
your sacred body is not made of
blue drink orange goo chips melted out of the mouths of machines grinding your
heart and soul to mush one on every corner of the ghetto and cul de sac, ad
infinitum, who wants to cook when you can fill your pockets with forgetfulness
you and your food do not come from Taco Bell
©Patricia Goodwin, 2015
“The Greatest Violence Upon You,”
from Atlantis by Patricia Goodwin.
Patricia Goodwin is the author of When Two Women Die, about Marblehead legends and true crime and its sequel, Dreamwater, about the Salem witch trials and the vicious 11-year-old pirate Ned Low. Holy Days is her third novel, about the sexual, psychological seduction of Gloria Wisher and her subsequent transformation. Her newest poetry books are Telling Time By Apples, And Other Poems About Life On The Remnants of Olde Humphrey Farme, illustrated by the author, and Java Love: Poems of a Coffeehouse.